The invention relates to improvements in apparatus for manipulating flows of fibrous material in machines for the making of cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, filter rod sections and/or other rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for transferring flows (e.g., streams or rod-shaped fillers) of fibrous material from an endless foraminous suction belt conveyor onto a running web of cigarette paper or other suitable wrapping material. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for manipulating a flow of fibrous material between a stream or flow building station and a stream or flow wrapping or confining station.
It is customary to direct a shower of fibrous material (e.g., shredded tobacco leaf laminae) against the underside of an elongated lower reach or stretch of a foraminous belt conveyor which cooperates with a suction chamber to attract the particles of tobacco and to thus build up a continuous stream or flow which is thereupon trimmed to remove the surplus and to thus form a substantially rod-like filler which is ready for draping into a running web of cigarette paper or other suitable wrapping material. Reference may be had, for example, to commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,119 granted Jan. 26, 1988 to Ludszeweit et al., and to commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,742 granted Dec. 17, 1991 to Heitmann. The disclosures of these patents are incorporated herein by reference.